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Abstract:
This work reports on high energy photoelectron spectroscopy from the
valence band of buried Heusler thin films (Co(2)MnSi and
Co(2)FeAl(0.5)Si(0.5)) excited by photons of about 6 keV energy. The
measurements were performed on thin films covered by MgO and SiO(x) with
different thicknesses from 1 to 20 nm of the insulating layer and
additional AlO(x) or Ru protective layers. It is shown that the
insulating layer does not affect the high energy spectra of the Heusler
compound close to the Fermi energy. The high resolution measurements of
the valence band close to the Fermi energy indicate a very large
electron mean free path of the electrons through the insulating layer.
The spectra of the buried thin films agree well with previous
measurements from bulk samples. The valence band spectra of the two
different Heusler compounds exhibit clear differences in the low lying s
bands as well as close to the Fermi energy.